It has recently come to my attention that Amazon, forever adding more features (some bizarre: Wikis?; some potentially useful: Discussions) to their bookstore listings has updated their admittedly aging "Look Inside" tool. The simple, clean and integrated version of past has been replaced by a rather futuristic online reading interface.

The real reason behind the interface upgrade is the new (as far as I can tell) "Read Your Books Online" feature. In their words:

• Start reading the book online while you wait for your physical copy to arrive
• Add highlights, bookmarks, notes, or tags to any page or section of text
• Print pages, and even copy and paste text from the book
• Read your book from any Internet-connected computer, meaning your book is always with you

They have even more details on the service here. But from the looks of it, the publisher has to opt into the "upgrade" program, giving their products the ability to be read online. If the book you want is in the program, you'll be given the option to add it to your Amazon digital library at the point of purchase.

It doesn't take much foresight to see that the next obvious step would be to pure online sales. This is quite sneaky actually as providing this option is a good way to ease people into the digital transition. Contrary to the popular opinion that reading a novel on a screen is painful, people might begin to find it, if not comfortable, bearable. And the immediate gratification of reading your purchase online might outweigh any lingering negatives. I think the real clincher will be whether or not Amazon will provide downloads. And then, in what formats and with what restrictions. I suspect more people would be interested in reading on their Palms or cellphones during a commute (i.e., Tokyo) than with their face pressed to a screen at home.

It's interesting to see Amazon actively seeking a way to shift their status as a provider of goods to a provider of services. Between a9 (search), alexa (web stats), s3 (data storage), and now this -- an online library -- it's clear they're invested in building an online presence more diverse than a simple store.